Found Deceased CA - Fang Jin, 47, flew to LA from China, train to Palm Springs, Morongo Basin, 21 Jul 2023, w/ JohnRoot Fitzpatrick, 55, missing, 30 Jul ‘23

[buyerninety]

megs1477 said;
.."it was determined that she is not in the driver's seat,
the photo is mirrored."
I believe I was wrong before, and that photo is mirrored,
and RF is in fact sitting in the drivers seat. The position
of the rear view mirror can of course be changed, so
that's an indicator but not quite conclusive. However,
if you go to this YT video, about timestamp 04:43,

https://youtu.be/cPTP3HuuV7k?t=282

we can see that for a year 2016 Toyota Tacoma, the black
square (finger) tab in the back window is located in the
window nearer to the drivers side (closer to the driver).
Also, if you look at JRF's jeans in the photo, it appears
the zipper fly fold folds to the left, which is incorrect -
mens jeans have the fly with the fold accessible from
the right (to cater for the majority of people being
right-handed).
[Thanks to ZVT24 for informing us as to the year of
the Toyota Tacoma, which I haven't noticed that
Law Enforcement ever stated at all.].

wary said;
"San Diego Zoo Safari Park is a 45 minute drive from Julian"
Mmmm. If JRF's mobile phone was working and
logged into a Julian cell tower, why didn't it then log
(hand-off) to other cell towers along the route to places
other than Julian? The most likely explanation for their
car and their disappearance is still a vehicle accident,
causing the vehicle to leave the road. Thereby, most
likely whether their vehicle is found within weeks or
into next year depends on when law enforcement
decide to abandon this nonsense of 'voluntary missing'
and state which (specific location) cell tower JRF's
phone logged into and which direction previous log-ins
indicated the vehicle was moving. Then at least an area
containg roads can be identified in which the vehicle
& FJ & JRF may be within (taking into account along
routes about Julian where it would be expected a hand-off
to a cell tower away from Julian would occur - that's your
'look only up to this point & no further' moving out from
Julian 'limit').
Here's an example at post end of when 'Adventures
With Purpose' used cell tower info released by law
enforcement to define the area containing a missing
person, deceased, the cell tower info indicated an area
(two cell towers in that case, but even the info from
one would be useful to us).

mark1969, maybe you should try contacting the
Chinese Embassy nearest you, for them to put pressure
on U.S. government & LE to release the cell tower info
to the Chinese relatives?

 

[slowpoke]

@mark1969
In an earlier post of mine (before you joined WS), we were discussing information found in Chinese media articles, where it said a person who claimed to be a friend of JRF got in contact with the family, and it sounded like this friend alarmed them in some way. I wonder if you could clarify the incident for us?

1. It was unclear to me in what way this person made the family fearful, if this is accurate? The translation did not really help me enough to understand.

2. Did this person give you a name, so the PI can speak to this individual? (Do not post the name here, however.) Is this person different from the one who reported JRF missing to the Sheriff’s Dept?

I don’t know if you read Chinese, but this was one such paragraph with this info:

“ 曾有一位自称是约翰朋友的人，主动联系上了金芳的亲友。“但交流中发现，这个人不但没有给我们透露有用的信息，反而是在套我们的话，打听我们的搜寻进度，对我们的搜寻进行干扰。”林女士说，这件事让他们感觉，约翰可能具有危险性，“这个所谓的朋友不像是约翰本人，这也让我们怀疑，约翰是否还有同伙，也使得我们更担心起了母亲的安危。”

To which when put through a translate site, it said it meant:

“A man who claimed to be a friend of John's reached out to Mr. Jin's family and friends. "But the exchange found that instead of giving us useful information, the man was confusing us, checking our search progress and interfering with our search." Ms. Lam said it made them feel that John might be dangerous. "The fact that this so-called friend is not John himself makes us wonder if John has any other accomplices and makes us more worried about our mother's safety."

- - -
Any info you are able to clarify would be appreciated. If you are able to disclose without compromising the search and investigation, that is. It is difficult for me due to the language and cultural barrier sometimes to understand information if coming only through the foreign media. I hope you will know I mean no disrespect. Thank you.

My thoughts and opinions only.

 

[ClaireNC]

I know we’ve talked about this-the pic of Fang in the drivers seat of the truck. However, if Fang did drive on some those roads, I can see her becoming nervous, as anyone would, maneuvering through the area. I have always thought an accident occurred, but if that were the case, wouldn’t the truck have been found by now?

The photo was a selfie, so the image was reversed. She wasn’t in the drivers seat. I “unmirrored“ these images so you can see the correct perspective.

 

[mark1969]

@mark1969
In an earlier post of mine (before you joined WS), we were discussing information found in Chinese media articles, where it said a person who claimed to be a friend of JRF got in contact with the family, and it sounded like this friend alarmed them in some way. I wonder if you could clarify the incident for us?

1. It was unclear to me in what way this person made the family fearful, if this is accurate? The translation did not really help me enough to understand.

2. Did this person give you a name, so the PI can speak to this individual? (Do not post the name here, however.) Is this person different from the one who reported JRF missing to the Sheriff’s Dept?

I don’t know if you read Chinese, but this was one such paragraph with this info:

“ 曾有一位自称是约翰朋友的人，主动联系上了金芳的亲友。“但交流中发现，这个人不但没有给我们透露有用的信息，反而是在套我们的话，打听我们的搜寻进度，对我们的搜寻进行干扰。”林女士说，这件事让他们感觉，约翰可能具有危险性，“这个所谓的朋友不像是约翰本人，这也让我们怀疑，约翰是否还有同伙，也使得我们更担心起了母亲的安危。”

To which when put through a translate site, it said it meant:

“A man who claimed to be a friend of John's reached out to Mr. Jin's family and friends. "But the exchange found that instead of giving us useful information, the man was confusing us, checking our search progress and interfering with our search." Ms. Lam said it made them feel that John might be dangerous. "The fact that this so-called friend is not John himself makes us wonder if John has any other accomplices and makes us more worried about our mother's safety."

- - -
Any info you are able to clarify would be appreciated. If you are able to disclose without compromising the search and investigation, that is. It is difficult for me due to the language and cultural barrier sometimes to understand information if coming only through the foreign media. I hope you will know I mean no disrespect. Thank you.

My thoughts and opinions only.

In the first worried moments of absence of contact, the family informed their Chinese friends in US . Those friends started to investigate and helped reporting the missing of Fang Jin , and in mean time there also seemed to be someone in friend circle of JRF that claimed to know alot of the privat conversations between JRF and JF ... and tried to fish out with Chinese friends in US and family some contactinfo of running investigating ...contact between them was broken abruptly... Afterwards suddenly also JRF was reported missing ... so all this looked very bizar and therefore Chinese family and friends became very cautious to share further info.
........
Due to other inconveniant reasons , we as Belgian family and close friends could react much later and participate in this search much later.
We now hope that together with our PI , friends and family of both missing people , locals , websleuth members , LE , local police and FBI , and governments of US , China and Belgium we can find Fang and John... and let this worry time be over.
Together we can do that ....
Thank you ... Xie xie ..dank u ⚘️

 

[Bogbacal2]

Praying they are found soon

 

[flowershop]

Earlier in this discussion there was talk of a bar called The Palms which is 6 miles east of Twentyninepalms. I believe a WSer had said that they called to see if they had come across the pair.

Perhaps they could post up a flyer on their FB page?

 

[Ou41aw]

I reached out to one of the only people in the US with access to the Navy SEAL Database, retired Navy SEAL Senior Chief Don Shipley. I am a member of his great site where they do Navy SEAL verifications for fake and real SEALS, and out the fakes. I am a Navy veteran, but not a SEAL. I sent him some of the information and links, and he checked into JRF in the official database. He responded that he indeed was a Navy SEAL. JRF graduated SEAL Training Class 220 on 18 December 1998. He was initially assigned to SEAL Team Eight, and also served at SEAL Team Four. JRF retired from the Navy as a SEAL.
Mr. Shipley has access to all SEAL training classes and team assignment numbers from the very beginning of the SEALs. All of the information on JRF's Linkedin is correct. Just wanted to be sure he wasn't a regular Navy vet claiming to be a SEAL (there are more than you know), and was an actual SEAL. He was and it is confirmed 100%, verification attached.

 

[slowpoke]

In the first worried moments of absence of contact, the family informed their Chinese friends in US . Those friends started to investigate and helped reporting the missing of Fang Jin , and in mean time there also seemed to be someone in friend circle of JRF that claimed to know alot of the privat conversations between JRF and JF ... and tried to fish out with Chinese friends in US and family some contactinfo of running investigating ...contact between them was broken abruptly... Afterwards suddenly also JRF was reported missing ... so all this looked very bizar and therefore Chinese family and friends became very cautious to share further info.
........
Due to other inconveniant reasons , we as Belgian family and close friends could react much later and participate in this search much later.
We now hope that together with our PI , friends and family of both missing people , locals , websleuth members , LE , local police and FBI , and governments of US , China and Belgium we can find Fang and John... and let this worry time be over.
Together we can do that ....
Thank you ... Xie xie ..dank u ⚘️

I hope the PI can speak (or already spoke) to this person. Since you say this friend seemed privy to conversations between JRF and Fang, it seems to indicate having been communicating with JRF prior to his disappearance. This friend of his may have information that could help locate Fang.

 

[sfinkz]

I'm confused by the statement in the Hi Desert Star.
There are multiple cases. You have to pay to search San Bernardino Court Records, so going by what I found on TruthFinder and UniCourt, there are at least 3 recent cases that resulted in Probation/Probation Violations. These do not include the assault case mentioned by the Hi Desert Star. I read somewhere he was still on probation, but I am not able to find it, so I am thinking it is from foreign media or posts. These are the cases I found:

The People of the State of California vs. JOHN ROOT FITZPATRICK

On 08/26/2020 The People of the State of California filed an Other - Other Criminal court case against JOHN ROOT FITZPATRICK in San Bernardino County Superior Courts. Court records for this case are available from Joshua Tree Courthouse.

unicourt.com

The People of the State of California vs. JOHN ROOT FITZPATRICK

On 03/17/2022 The People of the State of California filed an Other - Other Criminal court case against JOHN ROOT FITZPATRICK in San Bernardino County Superior Courts. Court records for this case are available from San Bernardino District Courthouse Criminal, Family Law, Traffic and Probate Division.

unicourt.com

The People of the State of California vs. JOHN ROOT FITZPATRICK

On 06/08/2021 The People of the State of California filed an Other - Other Criminal court case against JOHN ROOT FITZPATRICK in San Bernardino County Superior Courts. Court records for this case are available from Not Classified By Court.

unicourt.com

I may be able to make more sense of the legal tribulations of DJT. For sure there are more cases. The three highlighted all occurred after the felony assault charge in 2019.
It appears the Veterans Treatment Court
Calvet.ca.gov
‘offering alternatives that address underlying substance abuse and mental health disorders which contribute to criminal activity’ has been JRF’s get-out-of-jail card.
In chronological order, the 8/12/20 vandalism charge appears the least serious. The 4/29/21 DUI the most. Gets murky how this was resolved. At least 30 days jail time and ordered into what appears a bi-weekly probation review for three years until Jan 2025. Then on May 26 of this year, halfway through the probationary period, it was dismissed.
(There has been mention this charge was a violation of his probation terms and that the Veterans Court successfully intervened on his behalf, restoring JRF as a free man three months before his encounter with JF. At any rate, I don’t believe JRT was on probation at time of his disappearance if only because that would seem to change his status from ‘voluntary’ and begin a more rigorous search after skipping out on half-a-dozen reviews).
The 3/1/22 speeding, driving on a dui-suspended license and no insurance charges was not a good look five weeks into his three-year probation but apparently skated on that with no additional penalties.
And then, of course, pre-dating all this was the 2/5/19 felony assault:

MORONGO VALLEY MAN ARRESTED AFTER AN ASSAULT CAUSED SERIOUS INJURIES

A Morongo Valley man suffered a concussion and a ruptured ear drum, and the man whom he says beat him up was arrested Tuesday afternoon. The victim told deputies that about 1 p.m., John Fitzpatrick, 48, came over to his house in the 51000 block of Highway 62 in Morongo Valley to deliver food to the

z1077fm.com

Unclear how this one was resolved also. Perhaps being JRF’s first run-in and/or first contact with the Veterans Court he was able to avoid substantial penalties.
The dissolutions (with restraining orders?) are another matter but it may be that this three-year crime spree was in the aftermath of the most recent of these events.
Yeah, sorry, I gotta lotta questions. About JRF

 

[cenazoic]

Thank you for that verification, @Ou41aw !

 

[Ou41aw]

The photo was a selfie, so the image was reversed. She wasn’t in the drivers seat. I “unmirrored“ these images so you can see the correct perspective.

View attachment 450108View attachment 450109

Someone earlier the thread had reversed these images as well. Don't remember what someone said the exact day this picture was or may have been taken? I am very familiar with driving along the I-10 from Riverside, Ca. all the way to Indio, Ca. This is a long stretch of freeway that on certain parts has large billboards along the sides. In looking at that picture, I knew that black logo on the right of the billboard behind them looked familiar but blurred. I went to Google street view and saw the entire I-10 from the area someone from LA driving out to the far desert would drive and back on that freeway had just been photographed by Google in July 2023 and August 2023. I then searched the street view billboard to billboard both ways East and West, and finally think I found where this billboard is and where I believe that picture was taken. It is the only billboard that is light colored the whole left side, and black/white on the far right with that circular logo and 3 lines of what looks to be text. It is a billboard for the Spotlight 29 casino in Indio, Ca. They have many different billboards always along this freeway, but this is the only one exactly like that one in the picture. They are driving West on the I-10 approaching Jefferson St. exit in Indio, Ca. here- 33°44'42.5"N 116°15'43.8"W. The billboard is on the East side of the freeway behind them over JRF shoulder. Just putting it out there as I know this area well with family living all over that area and I am around that area about 10 times a year driving. Wanted to at least get that out there as far as location.

 

[ifindedout]

Thank you for posting, @Ou41aw, and welcome to Websleuths!

 

[sfinkz]

I reached out to one of the only people in the US with access to the Navy SEAL Database, retired Navy SEAL Senior Chief Don Shipley. I am a member of his great site where they do Navy SEAL verifications for fake and real SEALS, and out the fakes. I am a Navy veteran, but not a SEAL. I sent him some of the information and links, and he checked into JRF in the official database. He responded that he indeed was a Navy SEAL. JRF graduated SEAL Training Class 220 on 18 December 1998. He was initially assigned to SEAL Team Eight, and also served at SEAL Team Four. JRF retired from the Navy as a SEAL.
Mr. Shipley has access to all SEAL training classes and team assignment numbers from the very beginning of the SEALs. All of the information on JRF's Linkedin is correct. Just wanted to be sure he wasn't a regular Navy vet claiming to be a SEAL (there are more than you know), and was an actual SEAL. He was and it is confirmed 100%, verification attached.

Great work confirming that! JRF is more of a defender or threat than I imagined. Is the 2010 retirement accurate? For SEALs is there a mandatory retirement age? And when you say all the info on LinkedIn is accurate that is only in regards to Navy SEAL service and not necessarily the entries after transitioning from the military?

 

[Ou41aw]

Great work confirming that! JRF is more of a defender or threat than I imagined. Is the 2010 retirement accurate? For SEALs is there a mandatory retirement age? And when you say all the info on LinkedIn is accurate that is only in regards to Navy SEAL service and not necessarily the entries after transitioning from the military?

Yes, that is correct for his retirement, 2010. He joined the Navy in 1991, and graduated BUD/S in 1998 and became a SEAL in 1998. There is no mandatory retirement age for the Navy or SEALs, but anyone can get out at 20 years from the military with a retirement no matter your rank, or if you not have advanced past E-6, Petty Officer 1st Class, they will retire you at that 20 years. If above that rank, it rolls by years on past 20 depending on rank.

 

[patternsfinder]

View attachment 450178View attachment 450187
Someone earlier the thread had reversed these images as well. Don't remember what someone said the exact day this picture was or may have been taken? I am very familiar with driving along the I-10 from Riverside, Ca. all the way to Indio, Ca. This is a long stretch of freeway that on certain parts has large billboards along the sides. In looking at that picture, I knew that black logo on the right of the billboard behind them looked familiar but blurred. I went to Google street view and saw the entire I-10 from the area someone from LA driving out to the far desert would drive and back on that freeway had just been photographed by Google in July 2023 and August 2023. I then searched the street view billboard to billboard both ways East and West, and finally think I found where this billboard is and where I believe that picture was taken. It is the only billboard that is light colored the whole left side, and black/white on the far right with that circular logo and 3 lines of what looks to be text. It is a billboard for the Spotlight 29 casino in Indio, Ca. They have many different billboards always along this freeway, but this is the only one exactly like that one in the picture. They are driving West on the I-10 approaching Jefferson St. exit in Indio, Ca. here- 33°44'42.5"N 116°15'43.8"W. The billboard is on the East side of the freeway behind them over JRF shoulder. Just putting it out there as I know this area well with family living all over that area and I am around that area about 10 times a year driving. Wanted to at least get that out there as far as location.

First off, amazing sleuth work!!

Also, I believe this is new information that at some point they went out to, or past, Indio, and then drove back west. Prior location details had FJ flying into LA, getting herself to Palm Springs, and then the map associated with the photos and videos she sent to loved ones are all Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree, and 29 Palms.

I wonder what day this photo was taken. Given that her last contact was on July 21st from 29 Palms, it would have to have been taken and sent before then. I'm not sure what this tells us about his truck showing up on camera in Thermal after her last known contact. It seems potentially odd to me to sightsee out by Indio one day, and then return back that way days later. (But maybe that's because I'm a desert local near Joshua Tree, and if they were staying at his trailer in Morongo, that cuts the drive time to Indio down a bit. But when I host visitors, if we head down that way, it's pretty much a one day swing through to see anything they might want to see.)

 

[ClaireNC]

View attachment 450178View attachment 450187
Someone earlier the thread had reversed these images as well. Don't remember what someone said the exact day this picture was or may have been taken? I am very familiar with driving along the I-10 from Riverside, Ca. all the way to Indio, Ca. This is a long stretch of freeway that on certain parts has large billboards along the sides. In looking at that picture, I knew that black logo on the right of the billboard behind them looked familiar but blurred. I went to Google street view and saw the entire I-10 from the area someone from LA driving out to the far desert would drive and back on that freeway had just been photographed by Google in July 2023 and August 2023. I then searched the street view billboard to billboard both ways East and West, and finally think I found where this billboard is and where I believe that picture was taken. It is the only billboard that is light colored the whole left side, and black/white on the far right with that circular logo and 3 lines of what looks to be text. It is a billboard for the Spotlight 29 casino in Indio, Ca. They have many different billboards always along this freeway, but this is the only one exactly like that one in the picture. They are driving West on the I-10 approaching Jefferson St. exit in Indio, Ca. here- 33°44'42.5"N 116°15'43.8"W. The billboard is on the East side of the freeway behind them over JRF shoulder. Just putting it out there as I know this area well with family living all over that area and I am around that area about 10 times a year driving. Wanted to at least get that out there as far as location.

Thank you! I added that photo and location to the Case Map

 

[hazel324]

<modsnip - quoted post, response removed for unapproved source>

Also @mark1969 please can you let us know:-

(a) average daily contact Yama had with Ms Lin and/or close friend (ie once a day, twice a day or maybe every other day) and

(b) longest period of time (since departing) she went without having contact with the closest people to her ? Therefore...would, say, 3 whole days (or even 48 hrs) be unusual for this trip ? (that's without ANY communicating at all, uploading pics, vids, SM comments too) ??

dank u

 

[mark1969]

I hope the PI can speak (or already spoke) to this person. Since you say this friend seemed privy to conversations between JRF and Fang, it seems to indicate having been communicating with JRF prior to his disappearance. This friend of his may have information that could help locate Fang.

Yes PI interviewed that friend

 

[sfinkz]

Yes, that is correct for his retirement, 2010. He joined the Navy in 1991, and graduated BUD/S in 1998 and became a SEAL in 1998. There is no mandatory retirement age for the Navy or SEALs, but anyone can get out at 20 years from the military with a retirement no matter your rank, or if you not have advanced past E-6, Petty Officer 1st Class, they will retire you at that 20 years. If above that rank, it rolls by years on past 20 depending on rank.

Thanks again for that. The fact that JRF enlisted in the Navy in ‘91 at approximately 20 years of age (he is 52 at disappearance, not 55 as indicated by this thread heading) and became a SEAL in ‘98 at approx 27 years old, the upper age limit for new recruits, would indicate his Navy service was exemplary and possessed ‘the right stuff’.
Certainly no shame in being whitewashed from the SEALs as an E-6 at ~39 yrs., with 12 years of service; let the adrenaline junkies have at it!
But the entirety of his Navy service is 19 years, from 1991-2010? Would it not be highly unusual for a young retiree to fall just short of the 20-year threshold to qualify for full retirement? Or perhaps this is possible with a diagnosed disability?

 

[Ou41aw]

Thanks again for that. The fact that JRF enlisted in the Navy in ‘91 at approximately 20 years of age (he is 52 at disappearance, not 55 as indicated by this thread heading) and became a SEAL in ‘98 at approx 27 years old, the upper age limit for new recruits, would indicate his Navy service was exemplary and possessed ‘the right stuff’.
Certainly no shame in being whitewashed from the SEALs as an E-6 at ~39 yrs., with 12 years of service; let the adrenaline junkies have at it!
But the entirety of his Navy service is 19 years, from 1991-2010? Would it not be highly unusual for a young retiree to fall just short of the 20-year threshold to qualify for full retirement? Or perhaps this is possible with a diagnosed disability?

He actually joined the Navy in December 1990 and retired in Dec 2010 at 20 years. He lists his first experience on his Linkedin as a 'Student' taking the Navy Marine Intel Training Course starting in March of 1991. He would have been to boot camp before that but did not list it, but does show his total time in service to the US Navy as 12/90-12/10. He was an intel guy and became a senior intel analyst from May 1994 - Dec 1996 in Coronado for Naval Special Warfare Group One. That means he was getting intel for and debriefing SEAL teams. He then became a SEAL after that probably due to his experience around them and being quite versed in the SEAL teams. I agree with you and believe with this background and experience, he really did possess 'the right stuff' and is highly intelligent as well as able to handle many extremes.